Recap: Toronto vs. Chicago

Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Luol Deng paced Chicago with 19 points and every starter scored in double-figures as the Bulls coasted to a 96-80 over the Toronto Raptors without star point guard Derrick Rose at Air Canada Centre.

Rose injured his right hamstring late in Monday's win over the Cavaliers and hasn't practiced while rehabbing the injury. He is considered day-to-day.

Joakim Noah scored 18 points with nine rebounds while Carlos Boozer and Jimmy Butler added 14 points apiece for Chicago, which has won three consecutive games.

"You have to put in work, hard as a team, and when you do that you're going to play well. We're short right now so we need everyone to contribute to be successful," Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau said.

DeMar DeRozan tied a career-high with 37 points and Rudy Gay nearly had a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

After DeRozan tied the game at four on a driving dunk early in the first quarter, the Bulls locked down and went on a 9-0 run after a Boozer layup with 6:03 left. Toronto would trail by at least seven for the duration of the game.

Chicago then opened up the second quarter on a 10-2 run when Taj Gibson made a put back slam and capped the run with a jumper as the lead ballooned to 19, 37-18.

The Bulls held Toronto to 11-of-43 (25.6 percent) from the field through two quarters, while Chicago shot 19-of-43 (44.2 percent).

"We had a good week and a bad game tonight," said Toronto head coach Dwane Casey. "Chicago is a physical team and when you don't bring it, you're going to run into a game like that."

It was only fitting for the Bulls to begin the third quarter similarly to how they opened the first two. Chicago went on a 15-4 run in the first 5:03 of the third with Hinrich, Deng, and Butler each hitting a 3-pointer as the lead stretched to 60-35 in favor of Chicago.

The lead grew to as many as 27 but DeRozan did all he could to chip away at the lead. With Toronto down 70-43, DeRozan went on an 11-4 run by himself in the final 2:43 of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 72-54.

Game Notes

Since 2010-11, Chicago is 65-9 when keeping opponents under 90 points ...This
is the first of four meetings between the two teams this season ... Toronto
hosts Portland on Sunday ... Chicago will welcome Indiana to the United
Center Saturday night.